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KECOGNITION 01 THE INDEPENDENCE 01 CUBA. 



SPEECH 



OF 



HON. ¥M. B. BATE : 

OF TENNESSEE, 



IN THE 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 



Saturday, April 16, 1898- 



1808. 






^ 



^ 



73004 









^ SPEECH 



HON. WM. B. BATE. 



The Senate having under consideration the joint resolution (S. R. 149) frtr 
the recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding thafr 
the Government of Spain relinquish its authority and government in the 
Island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and 
Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States to use the 
land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into 
effect- 
Mr. BATE said: 

Mr. President: I suppose, according to the arrangement of last 
night when I was not here, time was allotted to me of fifteeD 
minutes without any request of mine. It is proper, however, 
upon an occasion of this kind, so momentus, so fateful, that 
every Senator who desires should he heard in regard to it and let 
his position be known to his constituents and the country. I feel 
much interest, as do my constituents, in this measure, and I would 
not he candid were I not to say I approach it with a degree of em- 
barrassment. 

I have no hesitation, however, in giving my voice and my vote 
for the independence of Cuba, and I am glad that my colleague 
and I agree upon this. I believe, in doing so, that we not only do 
that which is right, but reflect the will of our constituents, what- 
ever they may think upon the subject of peace. I believe that the 
independence of Cuba should be acknowledged according to the 
minority resolution presented by the Senator from Indiana [Mr. 
Turpie] , and it is to that that I propose to speak. Under all the 
circumstances, I approve of it, and expect to cast my vote for 
that report known as the minority report, and principally for the 
reason that it acknowledges the independence of Cuba, and does 
it promptly and without equivocation. 

Mr. President, for years and years you and I and all of us have 
been hearing of the troubles in the Island of Cuba. It is a part 
of the current history of the times. There was a time when the 
United States was solicitous to take Cuba as a part of her Govern- 
ment. But it seems not to be so now. But it has, however, be- 
come the sentiment of this country that Cuba should be cared for 
by the United States. 

Her wrongs, her grievances, perpetrated by Spanish rule, have 
become more or less personal. She has had a war period of many 
years. But an angry and ominous one has hung over her, filled 
with wrath, for the last three years. The Government of Spain 
has so long held Cuba by the throat that she thinks her grip can 
not be loosed, and resists with violence every effort in that direc- 
tion, and especially so of any effort by the Cubans themselves. 
3217 3 



in iirgonts have sprung up and for the lasl three years held .-it. 

|,.n ,' |,;iiii:;Ii |iuurr. I have !N I ioisill 1 1 J »< Hi llielll I in a usi I I hey 

rebelled against i he powor of a tyranl . 

Insurgents and rebels are synonymous terms, and they have tny 
sympathies. 

i\ir. President, yon may searoh history sacred and profi , 

tindont and modern and you will And thai wherever the word 

"liberty Is I I there are the words ''rebel" and "In urgenl 

on the page in front of It. Rebels and Insurgents are the fore- 
rnnnors oi liberty, and history so writes It. I have no criticism 
to make upon the Cuban Insurgents. They did the best they 

oould under the circumstances. Oi E the best evidences of their 

patriotism consists In the fad thai they fought those battles with- 
out mi v and hold the territory without outside aid. They have 

sustained their cause and have governed the Larger part of the 
beautiful Island of Cuba. Two of the states and three or four 
of the provinces are under the control of the Insurgents and have 
been for I hree years. 

Bui we are told In this Chamber thai we can uol reoognlze their 
Independence before intervention for fear that when our fore 
there Gonoi'rtl ( toinez will take command of them and will govern 
i in- (undue i . >i' i he wa r. Mr. President, thai Is not a patriotic idea. 
Thai is iii 1 1 the view for a man to take who wants to see Cuba free, 
h is not the view thai Lafayette took when he brought his fortune 
and bis men to Aineiui. He did m>i ask, "Shall l command?" 
or "Shall the French nation dictate the conduct of the war." He 
askod no such question, bul tendered his sword unconditional to 
Wall nm, 1 1 hi and teek the part assigned him. 

When, in the crowning aol of our old Revolution, at STorktown, 
the ti'icolor of France fluttered In front while Lafayette was with 
Washington in the rear of Corn wall is. neither D'Estaing nor Count 
De Grasse liesitated to oooperate with the American Army and 
repoii io an Amenean general. No, Mr. President, should our 

troops go to Cuba there would be no friction as to c< aanders. 

That would soon be adjusted to perfect satisfaction, it is not 
one of t hose matters about which we need have apprehension. 

The insurgents for the last three years maintained themselves. 

They have nut had, in a strict sense, a government de jure, 1ml it 

can nut be questioned, in the face of the fact of the reports which 

have i 'ecu m.uie to us from official authorities, thai there was and 

covernment de facto, one thai we must recognize, and one 

which has been able to maintain its aut hunt v o\ er t lie territory of 

thai Government in defiance of the power of Spain, notwithstand- 
ing her 800,000 t roups which were upon ( luban soil. The < 'ui ans 
have held that territory until this day; they have defendedit; they 
have kept up their little Bag for three years in actual warfare 
a; rail, si I hem. And why is it said t hey are not a power to t real Willi'. 1 

Why need we hesitate upon the ground that General Gomez 

may take ohOTge Of the troops that may be senl there? There is 
nothing in it other than mere suspicion, and I dismiss it. 

History is not without precedents where, under similar circum- 
stances, independence has been acknowledged and recognition 
given by the nations <>r the earth, [give a precedenl in poinl 
from our own country, 

Passing i>.\ the "Ostend manifesto," which pointed to interven- 
tion in Cuba, it must not be forgotten when Maximilian was 
i i or of Mexico, possessed of the capital and at theheadofa 



Government, Juarez was a fugitive in the mountains and hia 
government as itinerant as that of Cuba at present. The United 
States maintained diplomatic relations with Juarez as far as was 
practicable with a government which, like that of Cuba at pres- 
ent, had neither local habitation nor abiding place. 

This country did not stop to inquire where the capital was, nor 
what seaports were held by Juarez, nor whether his legislature 
was in session or otherwise, but, regarding Maximilian as a Eu- 
ropean potentate invadjng an American State, we gave our moral 
influence and were prepared to add physical force to the fugitive 
and peripatetic government of Juarez without drawing the fino 
distinctions of international law. 

A great nation makes precedents and discovers principles suit- 
able and applicable to its own conditions and necessities. The 
United States called into existence the Monroe doctrine, which, it 
not yet written in the books of international law, stands as un- 
changeable as the laws of the Medes and Persians. 

This country, in the case of Maximilian, made Europe under- 
stand that no foreign prince shall ever sit permanently on an 
American throne, and tho time has now come to further empha- 
size the fact that the despotism of a European State shall not con- 
tinue on the Island of Cuba, almost in touch with our shores. 
The opportunity has offered to enforce this doctrine, and we 
should embrace it with promptness and vigor and let consequences 
take care of themselves. < 

This is an example, Mr. President, which is on all tours witii 
the one now before us in the case of the insurgents of < !uba. But 
it is said that these Cuban insurgents and rebels are without ships 
and without forts. They needed no ships, and they could not use 
them if they had them, for the reason that the insurgent govern- 
ment has not been acknowledged by the world; but if their inde- 
pendence had been acknowledged by the United States or by other 
nations, Cuba could have provided herself with ships to carry her 
commerce and she could have had all the relations with the outer 
world necessary for an independent government. 

Neither was it so in the South American republics. \V hen Mr. 
Monroe recognized them they were without ships of war and had 
but little commerce, and yet, sir, in the name of liberty, Presi- 
dent Monroe did acknowledge them; and if that means anything, 
it means recognition. The doctrine known as the Monroe doc- 
wliich, although I believe it is not known on the pages of 
on international law, yet the Monroe doctrine is now known 
and recognized everywhere, and is as fixed and unchangeable as the 
laws of the Modes and Persians. The Senate so recognizes it. 

Mr. President, the right to recognize the independence of a peo- 
ple struggling bravely for national existence appeals so strongly 
to the American people that the shadowy principles of inter- 
national law will hardly counterbalance that sympathy which 
springs in the hearts of a people who won their independence de- 
spite the law of nations and the power of Great Britain. Tha 
wrongs against which the American colonies revolted were mat- 
ters of political principle; those against which the Cubans have 
been in arms these many years have superadded to the same 
principles the horrors of a warfare hitherto unknown among 
civilized nations, involving the very existence of the people. 

Recognition of independence is always a question of fact, the 
criterion suggested by publicists being whether the old govern- 
3347 



6 

merit had recognized the independence of the new. But no such 
principle is recognized by this country. Our independence pre- 
ceded by eight years England's recognition. Frame in recogniz- 
ing the United States disregarded the principles ($ noninterfer- 
ence, and the practice of European governments has for a century 
been that of interference. 

The nations of Europe in 1792 interfered in French affairs and 
attempted to set up another government for the people of France. 
The principle of interference to stop the effusion of blood, or to 
put an end to anarchy, such as that which has existed in Cuba, 
was, in 1827, .-justified by England, France, and Russia, when 
these nations intervened between the Sultan of Turkey and his 
rebellious subjects, the people of Greece. 

The Porte rejected the overtures of the nations, as Spain does 
those of the United States, and the great naval victory of Navarino 
became the precedent which it is to be hoped will follow in 
Havana Harbor. In 1823 France intervened between the Govern- 
ment of Spain and her rebellious subjects, and the army of France 
inched to Madrid. Again, in 1839, England intervened between 
the Government of Spain and her rebellious subjects, the Carlists. 
In 1825 Mr. Canning intervened between Spain and her rebellious 
colonies in South America, and '• called the New World into ex- 
istence to redress the balance of the old." 

The late abortive attempt at intervention of the nations of Eu- 
rope between Turkey and Armenia recognized the principle of in- 
tervention, but it is to be hoped that the fiasco will not be repeated 
in our intervention between Spain and the Cubans. History is 
replete with examples and precedents which justify our action 
and intervention in Cuba, but on no page of history is recorded a 
parallel act of perfidy and treachery to that which sunk the Maine 
in the harbor of Havana. 

A crime so recent, a horror so appalling, requires of me no 
repetition of its circumstances. It stands without a precedent 
and, happily for humanity, without a parallel among nations. Too 
gross in its iniquity for arbitration, too infamous in its character 
to be canceled by money, our people approve the Administration 
in its silence as to indemnity. The mangled forms of American 
sailors, the shattered wreck of our American battle ship, the dis- 
honor of our flag, admit neither arbitration nor indemnity, but 
demand of this country prompt recognition of independence for 
Cuba and immediate active intervention, if necessary, to secure it. 

I fully comprehend the responsibility that rests on those who 
appeal to war. I am familiar with its suffering, its cost, its hor- 
rors, but I fully agree with that sentiment expressed so epigram- 
matically by the Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. Mitchell] that, 
"There is something worse than war; something better than 
money." I add to it by saying that dishonor is worse than war 
and liberty better than money. Intervention in Cuba and inde- 
pendence for the Cubans may be a matter for debate and discus- 
sion, but the crime which sunk the Maine cries aloud for punish- 
ment — swift, sure, and severe. My vote for those resolutions is 
given more because of the crime against our flag, our battle ship, 
and our gallant sailors, than for any other cause. 

However much I may desire to see Cuba free and independent 
by her own efforts, my indignation over the perfidy which delib- 
erately selected the best place in the Havana Harbor to destroy 
an American ship, and perpetrated a crime without a parallel, 
3347 



carries my judgment for certain, swift, and severe punishment. 
The ghastly sight "will not down at my bidding." 

Go for a moment to the harbor of Havana and see the wreck of 
that vessel. You are Americans who are proud of your sailors 
and proud of the flag under which they were. Look there and see 
the misfortune that overcame them. I believe it was treachery. 
I do not charge the Spanish Government was a party to it, but I say 
they had placed those mines there. They knew that fact, and they 
should have given notice to any of the vessels of another friendly 
power coming within the purview of such a danger, just as a rail- 
road engineer is required to blow his whistle at a crossing or as a 
flag is held up to indicate where there is a point of danger. 

They knew the clanger was there; they had placed the mines 
therefor a purpose: they were silent as to their location, and the 
authorities certainly directed our battle ship Maine to be towed 
to that point and fastened to that buoy, without giving us notice 
that the danger was there. The captain of the Maine did not 
know the parts of the bay in which mines were located. He did 
not know they were there. 

He did not have the least intimation that there was danger 
there; and I say that the death of those sailors of our country cries 
out in the face of all the civilized world for vengeance. I seek not 
vengeance; yet I say that under such circumstances we can not 
overlook what has occurred. No man who loves the flag of his 
country, no man who loves its honor, believes that that outrage 
can be wiped out by the payment of rnoney. It is the trembling 
coward, the sordid huckster, who teaches such doctrine. Our peo- 
ple believe in maintaining the honor of this country, and they 
feel that this midnight assassination needs rebuke. 

1 have never thought since the sinking of that vessel that we 
could keep out of war. As I regard it, it is in itself a casus belli. 
In my judgment it was the dutyof the United States Government 
to have promptly demanded satisfactory explanation, and. Mr. 
President, as so much has been said in this debate about Andrew 
Jackson in recognition of the independence of Texas. I venture to 
say that if he had been at the head of affairs, old Hickory, "by 
the eternal," would have let loose the dogs of war on Morro Castle 
in forty-eight hours after the destruction of the Maine and murder 
of our sailors, and perhaps would by this time have made peace 
with Spain with Cuba free. 



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